Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.5

Golf - Semi Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Steamboat Springs, CO
Website

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Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club Review

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club is a classic, heavily wooded Rocky Mountain course.  Owned by Sheraton Hotels and managed by Troon Golf it delivers all you'd expect with the finest in quality and service.   Colorado Golf Magazine lists it in the Top 10 Courses in Colorado.  It's a great challenge for your accuracy off the tee and on your approach shots.

The front nine opens in a fairly friendly manner providing your tee shot finds the fairway.....and you manage to control your speed on these slick greens.  

Be careful on your approach shot on the par 4 third hole (388 yards uphill from the Gold tee).  If your approach shot hits the front right of the green it may back way down the fairway (I learned).

The 4th hole is a classic par 5 from an elevated tee finishing with an uphill climb to a front bunkered green.  This is followed by a short downhill par 3 5th hole protected by a bunker on the left and a tall fir on the right.

The course really begins to tighten up on the ninth hole.  Nine is a rather sharp dogleg right .  A smart shot is a light fade right with a 3-wood or long iron.  Cutting the dogleg is pretty tough on this one.

The back nine is gorgeous as you wind right and left and up and down through some rather tight and heavily wooded fairways.  #10 is a blind uphill par 5 playing over Fish Creek.

The back nine plays below some incredibly beautiful mountainside homes.  

I tied to get too aggressive on #15 a short, tight dogleg right par 4 crossing Fish Creek twice.  Next time I'll hit a mid-iron off the tee and avoid a trainwreck.  I learned my lesson on #16 another sharp dogleg right.

When I putted out on #18 I felt like I had no idea where I was in relation to the clubhouse.  That's a tribute to the fact the back nine is so secluded and quiet.

Now head back to the clubhouse and the Fish Creek Grille for some great food and beverage of your choice.

Rollingstone Ranch is a Sheraton Resort course.  For their stay and play specials check out their website. You'll love winding through the wooded mountains at this beauty.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,920 73.1 141
White 5,870 68.4 128
Gold 6,406 70.8 134
Red 5,205 70.1 129

Course Information

Course Architect:
Robert Trent Jones II
Greens Type:
bent hybrid
Greens Condition
9.6
Greens Difficulty
9.6
Fairway Condition
9.4
Bunker Condition
9.3
GPS:
No
Walkable:
yes
Beware of water on 7 holes and the 70 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.5 out of 10
Beauty:
9.4
Difficulty:
9.6
Variety:
9.6
Fun to Play:
9.6
Value:
9.3
Condition:
9.4
Front Nine Rating:
9.3
Back Nine Rating:
9.7
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $99.00 to $159.00

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.